Truc Viet LeThis is the personal website of Truc Viet 'Joe' Le.
https://trucvietle.me/
Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:10:21 +0000Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:10:21 +0000Jekyll v3.7.4Announcing New Websites!<p>I proudly announce today that I have two new and exciting websites gone live:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://joesjourneys.me/">Joe’s Journeys</a> is my new <strong>travel blog</strong>, which will document my new and exciting travel stories from now on! I will also be sharing travel hacks and tips including photography and drones. The site will also feature a gallery of my travel photography.</li>
<li><a href="https://joestech.me/">Joe’s Tech Guide</a> is my new <strong>technology blog</strong>, through which I will be sharing tips, hacks and tutorials on tech topics including data science, machine learning and web technologies – such as how to make an awesome personal website like this one ;)</li>
</ul>
<p>Bookmark them and check back regularly for updates!</p>
<p>In the meantime, some posts on here will be reposted on the new blogs with new twists. As a result, this blog will become inactive and will serve mainly as an archive of my past writings.</p>
<p>-Joe.</p>
Sat, 09 Mar 2019 12:00:00 +0000https://trucvietle.me/technology/2019/03/09/announcing-new-websites.html
https://trucvietle.me/technology/2019/03/09/announcing-new-websites.htmltechnologyZanzibar: Sun, Sand, Spice (and History)<p>In the summer of 2017, I made my first trip to East Africa, to Tanzania, to be more precise. The trip was motivated by <a href="http://www.richardgrant.us/">Richard Grant’s</a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11094626-crazy-river">crazy travel stories</a> in East Africa that I read <a href="http://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/01/08/all-you-need-is-ecuador.html">while traveling in South America</a> (also for the first time) two years before. This post focuses on the aspects that I personally found remarkable during my short stay in the culturally and historically rich island of Zanzibar, off the coast of mainland Tanzania. As opposed to popular belief, Zanzibar is properly an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Archipelago">archipelago</a> with its main island of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unguja">Unguja</a> often being referred to as Zanzibar. Hence, I also use Zanzibar to mean Unguja throughout this post, unless otherwise specified.</p>
<p>The archipelago is a <em>semi-autonomous region</em> of The United Republic of Tanzania with a majority Muslim population (as opposed to the mainland, where Christianity is the main religion). It is worth noting that “Tanzania” is a portmanteau between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanganyika">Tanganyika</a> and Zanzibar when the “united republic” was formed in 1964 after a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_Revolution">bloody revolution</a>. Zanzibar has a long and rich history and used to be a thriving trading hub for spices (mostly cloves), slaves and ivories, and whose culture mixes and blends influences from the Arab world, the Indian subcontinent and continental Africa.</p>
<p>Today, the island is seen distant from its glorious (and dark) past as an important and prosperous trading hub. It, however, remains a popular tourist destination for those who seek a perfect African beach holiday, far away from all the troubles in the mainland. Indeed, tourism is the economic lifeblood of the island now, and has busily turned Zanzibar into a modern and sanitized version of itself.</p>
<h3 id="stone-town">Stone Town</h3>
<p>Stone Town is the old historic part of what is now called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar_City">Zanzibar City</a> – the capital of the archipelago. The old town itself is small enough that it can be easily covered on foot in a few hours. The newer part, which is simply called “the other side” in Swahili, is much larger and is of little interest to most tourists. Stone Town features a maze-like network of small alleys criss-crossing over historic buildings, many of which are in near crumbling conditions. Because of its rich history, Stone Town witnessed historic events that had shaped Zanzibar as it is today, such as being the prosperous capital of the slave-trading <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Zanzibar">Sultanate of Oman</a> (17-19th century) and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War">“shortest war in history”</a>, when the British Empire took over Zanzibar from the Omanis in 1896 and effectively abolished slavery.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BV9Dvk6A6b2/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BV9Dvk6A6b2/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Nothing comes close to the #blues of the #ocean and #skies in #zanzibar #trueblue #deepblue #exotic #africa #indianocean #bluesky #stonetown #houseofwonders #blueplanet</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-30T06:41:54+00:00">Jun 29, 2017 at 11:41pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Several important figures in history passed through Stone Town in one way or another. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone">David Livingstone</a> lived there in 1866 and used it as a launch pad for his expeditions into the African interior. It is also the birthplace of Queen’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury">Freddie Mercury</a> (1946-1991) and home of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tippu_Tip">Tippu Tip</a> (1832-1905) – a wealthy Arab slave and ivory trader (more on that later).</p>
<p>Additionally, one of the truly outstanding features of Stone Town is its unique culture and architecture, where African elements blend and swirl with Arabia, India and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirazi_people">mythical Shirazi culture</a> from Persia. Swahili culture is thus the direct result of such an eclectic mix.</p>
<h3 id="swahili-architecture">Swahili Architecture</h3>
<p>Traditional Arabic architecture values modesty and simplicity in a building’s exterior. But in Zanzibar, where the Omani Arabs made fantastic fortunes in the 19th century from trading slaves, ivories and spices, the need to flaunt their wealth was so strong that it became manifested in their doors. Walking around the labyrinthine alleys of Stone Town, it is hard not to notice the striking features of the doors here: No matter how humble a house is, its main door must be wood carved with elaborate patterns, as if it functioned to ward off bad spirits. Remarkably, the brass spikes often seen on these doors are a stylistic innovation borrowed from India, where they originally designed to fend off war elephants.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVHeGdmgGLp/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVHeGdmgGLp/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Intricate wood carved #doors of #zanzibar #stonetown #tanzania #swahili #swahilicoast #architecture</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-09T11:13:14+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 4:13am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVISmKsg26I/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVISmKsg26I/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The maze like #alleys of #stonetown very much reminds me of #venice #zanzibar #tanzania #ramadan #ramadankareem #mambojambo</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-09T18:51:57+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 11:51am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVL3HjUAbIu/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVL3HjUAbIu/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Walking along the #enchanted #alleys of #stonetown provokes a #nostalgic feeling #zanzibar #tanzania #swahilicoast #outofafrica</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-11T04:08:48+00:00">Jun 10, 2017 at 9:08pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Another outstanding feature of the architecture here is the number of colonial buildings that further blend Victorian and Swahili architecture together to create even more interesting mixes. The <strong>House of Wonders</strong> is such an archetype. Originally built by the Omani Sultan as an official reception hall, it was badly damaged by the British in the “shortest war”. They then rebuilt it with elegant Victorian architecture, featuring uniquely high ceilings and wide external verandas. The place also has a huge main door intentionally designed so that an elephant could have passed through.</p>
<p>The building is called the “House of Wonders” because it was the first building in Zanzibar to have electricity, and the first in East Africa to have an elevator. At the time of its construction, it was also the largest and tallest building in Stone Town. The place now functions as a museum in unfortunately crumbling conditions. When I visited, the “museum” was closed indefinitely because one of the ceilings had apparently collapsed.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVJTOcmgCqM/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVJTOcmgCqM/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The #houseofwonders typifies #victorian #colonialarchitecture blended with local #swahiliarchitecture #stonetown #zanzibar #tanzania #swahilicoast #nostalgic #africanarchitecture</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-10T04:16:41+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 9:16pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Another fine example of the blended Victorian architecture here is the <strong>Old Dispensary</strong>, whose exterior is exuberantly decorated with patterns borrowed from the Indian subcontinent. It is indeed one of the most finely decorated buildings in Stone Town and a symbol of the multi-cultural architecture and heritage of the city. Constructed by a wealthy Muslim Indian merchant to be used as a charitable hospital for the poor, the building now resembles a commercial complex that houses a small museum, numerous (souvenir) shops, bars and restaurants catered to tourist services.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVL2StOg95r/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVL2StOg95r/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The #olddispensary is another marvel of #colonialarchitecture in #stonetown #zanzibar #tanzania #victorianarchitecture #nostalgic</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-11T04:01:35+00:00">Jun 10, 2017 at 9:01pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="a-dark-history-of-slavery">A Dark History of Slavery</h3>
<p>There is a modern tendency to think of slavery as something that European colonizers invented for their plantations in the New World. However, human bondage is as ancient as prostitution and has been practiced all over the world since the antiquity. African tribes were slaving on each other long before the first Europeans arrived, and 90% of the slaves who were shipped to the Americas were originally gathered by African slavers and often purchased from African chiefs who were selling their own people. In East Africa, the Arabs had been taking and buying slaves from the coastal tribes for 2,000 years. In the 18th and 19th century, the trade was taken over and expanded by the Omani Arabs headquartered in Zanzibar to establish the lucrative Indian Ocean slave trade network.</p>
<p>The captured slaves were shipped to date plantations in Oman, spice plantations in Zanzibar (particularly Pemba), and households all over the Middle East. The trade became so profitable that Oman moved its capital to Stone Town and built the magnificent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan%27s_Palace,_Zanzibar">Sultan’s Palace</a>. A trip to Zanzibar would miss out so much of world history lesson if one doesn’t visit the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/26/slave-markets-zanzibar">Old Slave Market</a> that has now turned into a museum to slavery, where the gruesome conditions that the captured slaves underwent are depicted and retold in details. The atmosphere was both somber and solemn, which made me appreciate the tremendous value of personal freedom. However, elsewhere, in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/08/the-unspeakable-truth-about-slavery-in-mauritania">other corner of Africa</a>, slavery is still very much present. When the British abolished slavery in Zanzibar, they built a magnificent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church,_Zanzibar">Anglican Cathedral</a> at the Old Slave Market as a symbol of triumph over slavery.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVHlVKYghYe/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVHlVKYghYe/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">A tribute to the brutal yet lucrative #slavetrade that once prospered in #zanzibar #stonetown #tanzania #slavery #blackhistory</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-09T12:16:24+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 5:16am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>The Zanzibari slavers kept the most nubile captives for the harems, and the children of these unions were free and had full rights, and often went on to become slavers themselves. One of them is <strong>Tippu Tip</strong>, one of the wealthiest and most influential slave and ivory traders in Zanzibar. Born into a mixed Afro-Arab parentage, Tippu Tip built himself a trading empire that translated into vast clove plantations in Zanzibar. His trade network extended far into the interior such that he funded several expeditions deep into the Congo to raid on villages and capture slaves and ivories. Align with his trading and “empire building” interests, Tippu Tip met and helped several famous Western explorers of the African continent, including David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley.</p>
<p>His influence on the island’s politics and history was lasting and indelible. Nevertheless, when I visited what was supposed to be Tippu Tip’s mansion, all what was left was a ornately carved wood doorway, and next to it a simple bronze plaque proclaimed it to be the House of Tippu Tip, “a notorious slave trader, plantation owner and governor”, while the rest was left in ruin and decay.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVH5-2VgShG/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVH5-2VgShG/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">House of #tipputip the notorious #slavetrader of #zanzibar now left in decay #stonetown #tanzania #slavery</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-09T15:16:52+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 8:16am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="paje">Paje</h3>
<p>Leaving history behind, Zanzibar is a fantastic beach holiday destination with an exotic African flavor. The best place to take a cheap local means of transportation to the many white sandy beaches of Zanzibar is from the <strong>Darajani Market</strong>, located at the border between the old town and “the other side” of Zanzibar City. Such a local means of transportation is called the <em>dala-dala</em>. Picture a vehicle like a minivan with low roof and plank seating along the sides, all painted up with pink roses and sky blue bubbles. It is built to seat a maximum of 13 people, but there can be 19 squeezed inside (with probably animals, goods, and baggages). Somehow, this crush of humanity would manage to wriggle, shuffle, bend and squeeze in order to absorb and transport all the passengers through the pothole-ridden dirt roads of Zanzibar.</p>
<p>So I took one of those cramped <em>dala-dalas</em> on a bumpy two-hour ride to the other side of the island, facing the vast Indian Ocean. My destination was a small town called <strong>Paje</strong>. Paje used to be a sleepy fishing and seaweed-farming village that has been slowly transformed into a laid-back budget beach town for backpackers. Just like anywhere else in Zanzibar, tourism has slowly become the main source of income for the local economy. In Paje, it is the backpackers traveling on a shoestring, who try to avoid the fancy, developed beach resorts in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nungwi">the north of the island</a>, that are catered for.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVfAwkHg8h6/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVfAwkHg8h6/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Riding a cramped #daladala is a must try experience when you&#39;re traveling in #tanzania #thisisafrica #polepole #hakunamatata #bumpyride</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-18T14:38:37+00:00">Jun 18, 2017 at 7:38am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Paje features endless stretches of stunning white sandy beaches, which in low tides, would extend for miles into the crystal clear, turquoise water of the Indian Ocean. In such shallow waters and good wind conditions, the most popular activity here seems to be <strong>kitesurfing</strong>. On the other hand, those beautiful beaches would have been a perfect tropical paradise had it not been for throngs of red-robed Maasais from the mainland with knives and clubs on the belts, elongated earlobes, and white plastic sunglasses trying to aggressively sell souvenirs, beads and all kinds of junks to lazing tourists.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVejg40gBtg/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVejg40gBtg/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">#maasai #vendors invade the beaches of #zanzibar #tanzania #hakunamatata #thisisafrica</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-18T10:23:04+00:00">Jun 18, 2017 at 3:23am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>It is not uncommon to catch sights of the locals as they, too, enjoy the beautiful beaches in their own backyards, or harvest seaweeds in the low tides. Much of the seaweed here would go into making traditional soaps or organic cosmetic products, which further supports the local economy. Another spectacular thing to do in Paje is to watch the sun rise up from the immense ocean early in the morning.</p>
<p>From my limited interactions with the locals through a few words in my Swahili phrasebook, they’d like to take life slowly and enjoy the moments as they go by, in spite of the rapid changes that (mass) tourism might bring and all the hardships in life that are still around. I’ve learned to adopt my two most favorite Swahili adages: <em>pole-pole</em> (“take it easy”) and <em>hakuna matata</em> (“no worries, be happy”).</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVenWo5AAOM/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVenWo5AAOM/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">#swahili #women enjoining the #turquoise beaches of #zanzibar #tanzania #swahilicoast #hakunamatata #beachholiday</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-18T10:56:37+00:00">Jun 18, 2017 at 3:56am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="the-food">The Food</h3>
<p>Zanzibari cuisine, like an integrated part of its culture, mixes diverse sources of influence. It features a generous use of different kinds of spices – Zanzibar is called the <em>Spice Islands</em> after all, and a sense of “heartiness” typical of African cooking. The best place to sample the delicious street food in Zanzibar is undoubtedly the <strong>Forodhani Gardens</strong>, which is a beautiful public park right in front of the House of Wonders. The park transforms into a vibrant street food market after sunset, and becomes crowded with locals and tourists alike. It is where various kinds of salted grilled seafood sticks are sold, among others. A lot of those grilled seafood sticks are fresh catch of the day, but some of them aren’t as fresh – a good sense of judgment and level of bargaining skill would probably help a lot here. Perhaps, I didn’t have one of them (or both), so I tried everything and found it out myself.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVGCGoDA-vn/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVGCGoDA-vn/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">African #streetfood fresh from the ocean #zanzibar #tanzania #africanfood #stonetown #forodhani</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-08T21:49:21+00:00">Jun 8, 2017 at 2:49pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Among those interesting, exotic food, the one that stands out the most is probably the <strong>Zanzibar pizza</strong>, which is a culinary testimony to the eclectic mixes of the culture here. It certainly has a Indian influence which resembles the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_canai">roti prata</a> found throughout Southeast Asia. Watch the embedded video below to see what it really is. In short, it is definitely my favorite and certainly a must-try Zanzibari food.</p>
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<p>A very staple food in East African cuisine is <em>ugali</em>, which is basically maize flour cooked in boiling water to a thick consistency, which is also ubiquitous in Zanzibar. It is often eaten with various kinds of spicy stew, cooked beans and plantains. Ugali is a very typical African dish, which can be found everywhere throughout the continent in various forms. I personally found it very filling and starchy, and could hardly finish the whole “thing”. A simple African lunch of ugali and other stuff in a budget roadside “restaurant” can cost less than 1 USD.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVH32mjgUzM/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVH32mjgUzM/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Simple #africanfood of #ugali, spicy #meatstew and beans for less than #onedollar #zanzibar #swahilicoast #tanzania</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-09T14:58:15+00:00">Jun 9, 2017 at 7:58am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Finally, the drink that I just couldn’t get enough of is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saba_comorensis">bungo</a> juice. Bungo is a truly exotic fruit, indigenous to Zanzibar, which has a taste somewhere between a mango, an orange and a passion fruit. It is sweet and flavorful and keeps me refreshed and energized all day under the fierce tropical sun.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVJzVEnglXz/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BVJzVEnglXz/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">#bungo is a #tropicalfruit native to #tanzania that has an exotic taste of a well blend between mango, orange and passion fruit #zanzibar #swahilicoast #beachholiday #outofafrica</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-06-10T08:57:13+00:00">Jun 10, 2017 at 1:57am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Looking back to my African beach holiday in Zanzibar, it was filled with unforgettable nostalgic feelings as I aimlessly strolled through the maze-like alleys in old Stone Town, admiring its fine, crumbling architecture, breathing in the scents of exotic spices, and savoring humbly delightful food that mixed African elements with influences from the Near East. The atmosphere provokes and immerses all of one’s senses in a timeless, magical universe. Indeed, the air in Stone Town is full of history that further blends with the African magical belief system to make one’s experiences in this enchanted island a <em>magical realism</em>. I have since yearned to come back to the place where I felt the timeless present.</p>
<p><em>Presentation slides of the post are <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14liPNAVBwBT2-WDxgInbLjme46F4poBs1WA2oTyetLs/edit?usp=sharing">available here</a>.</em></p>
Tue, 19 Dec 2017 23:42:00 +0000https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/19/zanzibar-sun-sand-spice-history.html
https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/19/zanzibar-sun-sand-spice-history.htmltravelThe Hostel<p>When <a href="https://twitter.com/ladygaga" target="_blank">Lady Gaga</a> tweeted what seemed to be <a href="https://youtu.be/e4WcNV1Y5uI" target="_blank">the fifth season</a> of AHS – <em>Hotel</em>, I was taking a short beak from the <a href="https://instagram.com/p/y0as3rS5Ij/?taken-by=vietexob" target="_blank">dreary Pennsylvanian winter</a> down in New Orleans, where I expected it to be warmer and more cheerful. They said New Orleans had a mild and wet winter; when I was there, it was unusually cold for that time of the year (in mid February, 2015) – just a few degrees before snowfall. But the sky was clear and the sun was shining most days. The stronger reason, though, that attracted me to come down there was the <a href="http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/" target="_blank">big carnival</a> that was going on in town. The one that draws millions from all over the world every year. It’s called <em>Mardi Gras</em>. Little did I expect that New Orleans was also one of the <a href="http://paranormalneworleans.com/article/the-7-reasons-why-new-orleans-is-americas-most-haunted-city/" target="_blank">most haunted</a> cities in America – and this is yet another spooky story from New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA).</p>
<p>Because of Mardi Gras, tourist demands in NOLA surge exponentially as the date approaches – those such as flights, accommodations, and transportation, that the city’s creaking old infrastructure can barely cope with. It is thus highly recommended that if you are going there for Mardi Gras, you should start planing for your trip <em>very early</em> on (like 6 months ahead) before the prices of everything start to creep up. I thought that I was pretty early when I started planning back in October, but in fact I was not. So when I looked at reasonably-priced accommodation options for the period, the only one left seemed to be the <a href="http://www.stvguesthouse.com/" target="_blank">St. Vincent’s Guesthouse</a>, a seemingly charming and historic orphanage-turned-hostel located on Magazine St., about half-an-hour walk from the hedonistic French Quarter.</p>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/zTsXj5S5OS/?utm_source=ig_embed" data-instgrm-version="9" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/zTsXj5S5OS/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">St. Vincent&#39;s - the haunted hostel that I stayed in in New Orleans. Built in the 1860s as an orphanage for the children whose parents died of the yellow fever pandemic, the premise went on to be haunted by the little spirits who also lost their lives to the disease. In the middle of the night, one often hears childrens giggling and footsteps in the empty hallways.</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/vietexob/?utm_source=ig_embed" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Joele</a> (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-02-20T03:21:23+00:00">Feb 19, 2015 at 7:21pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>The hostel, marketed as having a <em>character</em>, had a rather rich history. It is a huge mansion built in 1861 as a orphanage by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Haughery" target="_blank">Margaret Haughery</a>, an devout Catholic Irish immigrant who made a fortune in the city from her baking business and later became its foremost philanthropist. Throughout the 19th century, New Orleans had major yellow fever epidemics that killed thousands during the summer each year – because of the swamps surrounding it and because people didn’t know then the link between mosquitoes and disease transmission. Mrs. Haughery herself lost her child and husband to the disease and decided to build the orphanage to house the children whose parents died of yellow fever. Since then, the orphanage had had its fate changed hands several times. In the early 20th century, mosquito-borne diseases started to subside since the discovery that mosquitoes were the cause of the epidemics, and the city started to pave its streets and eradicate puddles of standing water. St. Vincent’s then functioned as a refuge for unwed mothers and their children by the city’s government until social revolutions in the 1960s made that unnecessary. The property then fell into disuse for decades until it was brought back to life in 1994 by a private management as a guesthouse as it is today.</p>
<p>The place is now primarily a budget hostel with a constant flow of young backpackers, hitchhikers and all sorts of lost souls through its wing of dormitories. Some work at the place in one form or another for a discounted or free rent. Some make it their long-term residence because of the cheap daily rent – those who are mostly prostitutes or working transvestites in the Quarter at night. Some make it a cheap crash on a stormy New Orleans night. The stormy night that I arrived there with a confirmed booking, the receptionist told me that my bed in the dorm room had <em>collapsed</em>, and the only choice left for me was to crash on an inflated air mattress in the communal “living” room for the first night, which he would give me for free, until they’d find a replacement for me the next day. Having no options left, I agreed to the offer. Upon opening the door of the communal room, I was appalled by what was going on inside. The room was large and had a decidedly musty smell coming out. Creaking old furniture cluttered everywhere. The wallpaper and floor carpet still had large moldy stains as if a lot of water had gone through them in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina">last hurricane</a> and nothing much had been done to repair. Empty whiskey bottles littered at the corners. The walls adorned with replicate Rococo paintings made the atmosphere both nostalgic and eerie. But more horrifying were the people sleeping in there.</p>
<p>Near the main door of the room was a half-collapsed couch that had visibly large, dark yellowish stains – the kind of stain that looks like one would catch syphilis by sitting it. Yet, sleeping on it was a old homeless-looking man, who, in his state of half-awake (I probably had woken him up myself) was constantly mumbling and swearing about having two strangers intruding. At the other corner was old man sleeping on a respiratory support machine, who was snoring audibly loud. And another corner was another person sleeping all covered up from top to bottom like a corpse, and next to him were some spilled bottles. All of that made the scene look like a creepily bizarre blend of a homeless shelter and a hospice. The air was both thick and humid, yet felt eerily cold.</p>
<p>The receptionist was kind enough to pumped up the air mattress for me and put it on a tiny, squeaking bed frame that was available in the room. He then threw me a couple of “clean” scratched towels and bedsheets with holes and a blanket to comfort my long and cold night ahead. Chills were running down my spine when he left his shift at midnight, turned off the lights and locked the doors. At the same time, I was also too exhausted after a long day, so I fell asleep quickly.</p>
<p>A few hours passed and I was deeply asleep on the inflated mattress, I suddenly felt the movements underneath and the creaking noise from my bed as if someone was shaking it violently. I woke up, opened my eyes, and in my surreal state of half-awake, I saw a female figure right on my bedside. She was a black girl whose face was hardly recognizable, but what was conspicuous in the dark were the glowing neon necklaces, bracelets, headgear, or whatever ornament that she was wearing. I was seriously terrified and, for a moment of panicking, I believed the ghastly, glowing figure was a ghost… Perhaps the ghost of <a href="http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/secrets_of_the_voodoo_tomb/" target="_blank">Marie Laveau</a>? Was she gonna kill me? I uttered a loud scream out of desperation. It was so loud that it frightened the “ghost” herself. She started to speak to me in English, consoling and apologizing for rocking my bed. It was then when I got back my sanity, assuring myself that she was indeed a harmless human being and listened to what she was saying.</p>
<p>The girl insisted that I was sleeping on the wrong bed! And that the bed was reserved for her by the hostel staff. Ridiculous! Especially with all the alcohol smell that was profusely coming out of her breath. She was obviously too drunk to make sense of anything. I also learned from her that all the glowing ornaments were part of her Mardi Gras costume. Of course, I protested and refused to give up my bed to a random drunk person who just freely walked into a private property (whose doors had supposedly been locked) and claimed a place to crash. She then walked away and crashed somewhere in the filthy corner of the room on another inflated mattress that she had found herself. I quickly surveyed the room, and not far from me was another random (drunk) person curling up in his sleeping bag on the floor. I then asked myself if this was the place where any random drunk person could just come in and crash? Were the doors even locked at all? Is it secure for me to stay here with all of my belongings? I was again too tired to make any sense of what’s going on and fell back to sleep into the chilly night.</p>
<p>The morning after, when a nicer receptionist took shift, I told her about the horrifying night that I had endured. She embarrassingly apologized and swiftly arranged for me a dorm room that was nicer (and had fewer people) than what I had booked (and also far away from the creepy living room) with a functional bunk bed. Still, the “blankets” she gave me were a couple of torn towels that could barely cover my entire body. And because the whole mansion had no heating system of any form (except for the shower), over the next few nights, I learned the hard way that New Orleans did have a <em>proper</em> winter by curling up through the shivering cold nights.</p>
<p>The next few days, I couldn’t help noticing the peculiar decor of the entire mansion. The walls were painted in bilious purple. Most curtains didn’t come close to covering the entire windows. The hallways were lined with fine, polished bronze sculptures, often of bizarre forms – as if <a href="http://morrisonsculpture.com/artist.html" target="_blank">Thomas Randolph Morrison</a> displayed all of his <a href="http://morrisonsculpture.com/sculpture.html" target="_blank">bronze work</a> at St. Vincent’s. Vintage photographs of the orphaned children who used to reside there (together with their caretakers) creepily adorned the walls – some depicted odd activities such as having their tooth pulled out. At night, I often heard ambiguous children’s voice giggling or footsteps in the empty hallways. When I told the receptionist this, she showed no surprise and said that those were the playful spirits of the kids who died of yellow fever here – we just needed to respect them and let them be.</p>
<p>Its exterior was no less interesting. A huge gargoyle was found hanging on the clocktower – not the kind of stuff you’d see hanging off the Hilton. Large exterior corridors and high ceilings typical of Southern plantation homes ran through the mansion as its main passageway. The small pool in the courtyard was always covered in black plastic. There was a large white sculpture of Virgin Mary in the middle of the garden that looked particularly eerie at night under the dim streetlight and when the wind blew over the willow tree casting shadows on it. This place definitely had a character inside out.</p>
<p>During my stay at there, I also made friends with those sharing the dorm room. Two of whom were Brazilian and Italian academics who were attending a <a href="http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/New-Orleans-2015" target="_blank">renowned International Studies conference</a> going on in town at the Hilton. I learned from them that because the conference happened to coincide with Mardi Gras, skyrocketed hotel prices had forced them to stay at St. Vincent’s. Another one was a vagabond from Wisconsin, who had stayed at the hostel before last Halloween and decided to come back because he seemed to like its ”character”.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I did have an interesting stay at St. Vincent’s, except for the incidents on the first night. The rest of the nights went by with no major issues. I made friends and had nice interactions with the “lost souls” in the hostel – some were transvestites, some used drugs, some were just free-spirited and had a lot of fun on Mardi Gras. The majority of them were young people going to Mardi Gras. And just like me, and they didn’t care much about the comfort, security or cleanliness – they just wanted the best bang for their buck. St. Vincent’s satisfied their basic needs of having a place to crash and hot shower after a long night of hard partying. Plus, its location was just a walk away from the heart of the scene. I eventually started to like the place and its character. Just like New Orleans, St. Vincent’s is more than meets the eye. It is old and messy, yet possesses a hidden charm. (Not to mention the staff there were exceptionally helpful and friendly.) It takes time to appreciate; and once you do, you’d understand why New Orleans is America’s most haunted city, but is also one of its most favorite.</p>
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<p><em>Also check out my <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/dKCPyp7S7pjLYeZd8">photo essay</a> of New Orleans, St. Vincent’s and Mardi Gras 2015.</em></p>
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 16:42:00 +0000https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/17/the-hostel.html
https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/17/the-hostel.htmltravelIstanbul: An Intercontinental Affair<p>Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey that has an incredibly rich history and whose culture blends the best of the (near) East and West. Being one of the earliest centers of civilization (as it is still today to a lesser extent), Istanbul has witnessed the rise and fall of empires that shaped world history. Istanbul today remains the bustling cosmopolitan heart of Turkey, as well as the country’s economic and cultural hub. Located strategically on the strait that separates Asia and Europe, it is a unique city in the world that bridges the continents. A trip to Istanbul would thus serve as a trip to both continents in one place! This post presents a list of activities that one should do (in my opinion) on a short trip to Istanbul.</p>
<h3 id="shopping">Shopping</h3>
<p>A great city has a great shopping district. Paris has Champs Elysees. New York has Fifth Avenue. Singapore has Orchard Road. Istanbul has <strong>Istiklal Avenue</strong>. Istiklal is a long pedestrian shopping and commercial street emanating from Taksim Square, a major transit hub in the city, that leads all the way to the <a href="http://www.ibb.gov.tr/sites/ks/en-us/1-places-to-go/towers/pages/galata-tower.aspx" target="_blank">Galata Tower</a> at its other end. Located in the heart of the European side, walking along this street feels no different from walking along any other high street in a major European city, with boutique shops and familiar brand names. There are thus lots of opportunities for people watching, live performances, sampling delicious street food (more on that later), or basically just feeling the beat and rhythm of the city. I personally enjoyed watching the young and hip crowds and the city’s ethnography, which is amazingly diverse due to its location as an intercontinental bridge.</p>
<p>The <b>Beyoglu</b> and <b>Cihangir</b> neighborhoods surrounding Istiklal are largely upmarket residential. Strolling through their maze-like, winding little streets makes a tranquil and meditative escape from the busy crowds, and a visual feast for the beholder’s eyes to appreciate fine Europeanesque architecture mixed with subtle oriental twists.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2lKOp-S5J9/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Istiklal to Istanbul is like Fifth avenue to NYC, Champs Elysees to Paris, Orchard road to Singapore plus superb street performances #istanbul #turkey #shopping #streetperformance #istiklal</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-12T11:43:35+00:00">May 12, 2015 at 4:43am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>One just cannot visit Istanbul and miss an opportunity to bargain at the <strong>Grand Bazaar</strong>. This massive covered bazaar with four main gates has been continuously operating since 1455. All things imaginable can be found here at bargaining prices. You will find a lot of knockoff fashion goods, touristy souvenirs, oriental ornaments, jewelry and antiques, and lots of Turkish delicacies. The fun really begins when you ask for the price, drive it down to the point where you pretend to be uninterested and leaving, then the seller will yell and ask you to come back for negotiation.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fHI-3S5Lk/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Don&#39;t take your momma to the Grand Bazaar, or she&#39;ll get lost and never wants to get out #bazaar #istanbul #turkey #shopping #grand</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T03:21:09+00:00">May 9, 2015 at 8:21pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="hagia-sophia">Hagia Sophia</h3>
<p>The magnificent <strong>Hagia Sophia</strong> (or <em>Ayasofya</em> as the locals spell it) is walking distance from the Grand Bazaar. Hagia Sophia was a grand medieval Byzantine cathedral, constructed in 537 when Istanbul (then called <em>Constantinople</em>) was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. When the city was taken over by the Muslims in 1453 and established as the seat of the Ottoman Empire, Hagia Sophia was converted into the Grand Mosque of Istanbul. In the early 20th century, it was finally secularized and functioned as a museum. Visitors today can still appreciate the amazing architecture of the grand cathedral/mosque that has witnessed the ups and downs of Turkey. Especially unique is its extraordinary interior that combines exquisite Byzantine decor (e.g., mosaic mural depictions of Christian themes) with elegant Islamic calligraphy. The giant dome in the center has impressive wide open space and sky-high ceiling, where crowds of visitors gather and take photos.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fByJDS5CB/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Jesus and Mary still seen depicted on the impressive dome of the Hagia Sophia that was once used as an Ottoman mosque #byzantine #mosque #church #jesus #istanbul #ayasofya</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T02:34:21+00:00">May 9, 2015 at 7:34pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2dFwVuy5Ia/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Beautiful Byzantine art at Hagia Sophia #istanbul #turkey #byzantine #architecture #ayasofya</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-09T08:30:34+00:00">May 9, 2015 at 1:30am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fA0AlS5AW/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Exquisite Byzantine mosaic mural on the walls of Hagia Sophia #byzantine #mosaic #art #jesus #istanbul #ayasofya</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T02:25:52+00:00">May 9, 2015 at 7:25pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="the-bosphorus-and-sunset">The Bosphorus and Sunset</h3>
<p>The at the end of the Istiklal walking/shopping street is one of the most iconic landmarks in the city, the <strong>Galata Tower</strong>. This medieval watchtower was built during the Byzantine era, even though nobody knows exactly when. At almost 67-meter height, the Galata tower offers a breathtaking panoramic view into the Bosphorus strait and the strategic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horn" target="_blank">Golden Horn</a>.</p>
<p>One of my most favorite things in Istanbul is watching sunset over the <strong>Bosphorus strait</strong> – the waterway that separates Asia from the European continent. A few steps down from Galata Tower is where this magical strait bursts into view: wide and magnificent panoramic view of the <em>other</em> side of the city, sparkling water reflected under the sunlight, and fresh cool breeze blowing from the ocean. Walking across the <strong>Galata Bridge</strong> to the other side feels even more surreal as you cross from one continent to another in a half-an-hour walk. The views from the bridge to both sides is surely fantastic with expanding views to the city’s skylines (which are dominated by minarets) and blue oceans stretching to the horizons. Even more spectacular is doing so at sundown, when you will be rewarded with priceless sunset view. It is when the sun casts its last rays onto the city’s famous landmarks, hilly residences on both sides, and seagulls hovering over the water trying to catch dinner. Interestingly, one of the local favorite pastimes here seems to be fishing on this bridge.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2lMbRpS5Nr/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Final moments in a great city #istanbul #turkey #sunset #bosphorus #galata #fishing #city</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-12T12:02:47+00:00">May 12, 2015 at 5:02am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="the-mosques">The Mosques</h3>
<p>Istanbul is the city of mosques as it served as the capital of the most powerful Islamic empire in history. A trip to Istanbul would be incomplete without a visit to its many famous mosques and appreciate the elegant interior design of Islamic architecture. One of such is the <strong>Blue Mosque</strong>. Located just opposite to the Hagia Sophia, the mosque’s interior appears ‘blue’ (hence the name) due to the tiles adorning its walls. Impressive as it appears from the outside, what’s inside a mosque is often a huge empty hall, whose floor is completely carpeted and whose sky-high ceiling supports elaborate, low-hanging chandeliers lighting up the entire hall. The downside of having so many mosques is that you would hear loud prayer calls five times a day, emanating from blown speakers from numerous minarets throughout the city, and one of them starts at 5 in the morning.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fmwOjS5Id/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Mosques and minarets #mosque #minaret #istanbul #turkey #architecture</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T07:57:24+00:00">May 10, 2015 at 12:57am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fC9brS5EG/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The impressive 17th century New Mosque #mosque #architecture #istanbul #turkey</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T02:44:37+00:00">May 9, 2015 at 7:44pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="the-food">The Food</h3>
<p>Turkish cuisine has rich tastes and sophisticated flavors that come from the unique blend of Western ingredients, spices of the East, and Mediterranean elements (olive oil, citrus fruits, and feta cheese to name a few). One of the many ways to appreciate a country’s cuisine is to sample its street food, and the best place to do so in Istanbul is, of course, on Istiklal. One of my favorite Turkish street food is <em>midye dolma</em>, or cooked mussels stuffed with rice with a squeeze of lemon. Another one is the bagel-like bread eaten with Nutella spread that is sold everywhere. Or stopping by at an ice cream shop (Turkish ice cream is especially chewy and rubbery), where the mischievous ice cream guy would <a href="https://youtu.be/UHI6aZIWW0M" target="_blank">play tricks</a> on you. Or certainly a filling kebab sandwich on the street for less than 10 liras. A refreshing drink popular here is <em>ayran</em>, which is liquid yogurt that has a special savory taste, which I enjoyed a lot.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2fmzlsy5Ii/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Istanbul street food collage #istanbul #turkish #foodporn #streetfood #yummy</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-10T07:57:51+00:00">May 10, 2015 at 12:57am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p><strong>Turkish coffee</strong> is considered the country’s world cultural heritage. This coffee is particularly strong and viscous, which is resulted from an elaborate brewing process of boiling finely ground roasted coffee beans in a special copper pot. The coffee is then unfiltered and allowed to settle so that its particles sit still at the bottom of the cup before it can be drunk. Going very well with this strong coffee is <strong>Turkish delight</strong> (or <em>lokum</em>), which is a gelatinous sweet confection made of syrup and nuts (particularly pistachios) and sprinkled with icing sugar.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2bbmKUS5Dg/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Turkish #coffee &amp; #delight is the best of the combination #turkish</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-08T17:02:56+00:00">May 8, 2015 at 10:02am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h3 id="hammam-turkish-bath">Hammam (Turkish Bath)</h3>
<p>A trip to Istanbul would be incomplete without visiting a Turkish bath (or <em>hammam</em>). Originating during the Ottoman era from the practice of cleansing oneself before going to mosque, hammam has evolved into an elaborate <em>ritual</em> to clean one’s body (and soul) not necessarily for any religious reason, but to relax (which now integrates body massage) and socialize for both genders. During my short stay there, I made a trip to the <a href="http://www.agahamami.com" target="_blank">Aga Hammam</a>, one of the oldest in the city and a short walk away from the busy Istiklal Avenue. This boutique hammam has a reasonably priced package that includes complete hammam ritual and body massage afterwards. The ritual had me rubbed and washed (in soap water) by a strong, stocky man after a hot steamy sauna while my lower body is being wrapped in a towel. The body massage is relaxing and performed by a different younger masseur. The session finishes with guests receiving complementary sweetened hot mint tea and socializing in the main hall.</p>
Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:26:00 +0000https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/11/istanbul-intercontinental-affair.html
https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/11/istanbul-intercontinental-affair.htmltravelWae Rebo: Spiritual Landscapes<p>“This is the shape of our land here.” – said the old woman who welcomed me to <a href="http://florestourism.com/districts/wae-rebo-village/">Wae Rebo</a> after gently shaking my hands. They do so with modest pride, which implies “this is the way we do things here” and “what you see is what you get.”</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOwqhlxg4Bq/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The old woman gently shakes my hand to welcome an incoming guest, says a prayer to her ancestors and says &#34;This is the shape of our land. What you see is what you get. We work hard and we honor the fruits of our labor and share with others.&#34; #waerebo #manggarai #animism #potentlandscapes #newyearseve #homestay #shaman #wonderfulindonesia</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-02T11:30:54+00:00">Jan 2, 2017 at 3:30am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>This is the land of steep slopes and stony fields, where hardworking people enjoy the products of their land and labor. The statement seems to stress the spiritual connections between people and places in <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/flores-indonesia-komodo-dragons/index.html">Western Flores</a>: “our house may be humble dwelling but it is ours and we are part of it, and so are our fields and forests and mountains”.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOwSswRgNYP/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Thank you for all the #birthday wishes and #happynewyear to y&#39;all from the charming village of #waerebo #villageundertheclouds #potentlandscapes #manggarai #floresisland #wonderfulindonesia #selamattahunbaru</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-02T08:02:42+00:00">Jan 2, 2017 at 12:02am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Wae Rebo is an ancient <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manggarai_people">Manggarai</a> village perching atop the highlands well above 1,000 meters in southwestern <a href="http://florestourism.com/">Flores island</a>, Indonesia. In this timeless village, the local folks carry on their traditional lifestyles that consist of subsistence farming of rice and vegetables and cultivating cash crops (notably coffee) and an animistic belief that connects people and landscapes.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOwn9DIgV0O/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Age-old traditions live on in the village like grinding #coffeebeans in the morning or spinning threads to make scarfs and sarongs #waerebo #manggarai #floresisland #wonderfulindonesia #selamattahunbahru</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-02T11:08:26+00:00">Jan 2, 2017 at 3:08am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Wae Rebo is surrounded by seven forested mountains that resemble a protecting wall and where the village itself looks like a shiny gem in the bottom of a valley, where seven conical thatched houses are built surrounding a big common village yard. Each house is big enough to contain 7-8 families, each is allotted a small sleeping corner. The seven houses resemble the mountains that protect the people and their community. Clouds hang low above the village all year round, giving it a cool alpine atmosphere.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOwTTYsAnMn/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">May this year bring us #peace and #enlightenment #happynewyear #selamattahunbaru #waerebo #wonderfulindonesia</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-02T08:07:59+00:00">Jan 2, 2017 at 12:07am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>The Manggarai people believe in being in harmony with nature and that the spirits of the ancestors linger with them all the time like the clouds and the mountain mists. At the center of the village yard is the sacred altar to their ancestors, who are at the center of the belief system. Interestingly, their conical houses, they said, when flattened would resemble concentric circles (or spiderwebs), where their ancestors’ spirits are at the centers. That is why worshiping objects are put in the top of the five floors of the cone. More remarkable are the children of Wae Rebo, who are always happy to interact with visitors and curiously fiddle with their latest tech gears.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOwUo9ogGWh/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The ancient village of #waerebo is well above 1000m, where timeless #animist agricultural lifestyle of the #manggarai people of Western Flores lives on and where the kids enjoy playing football and eager to learn about technologies #floresisland #wonderfulindonesia #potentlandscapes</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-01-02T08:19:40+00:00">Jan 2, 2017 at 12:19am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>For more practical <strong>travel information</strong> to the village of Wae Rebo, refer to the <a href="http://florestourism.com/districts/wae-rebo-village/">official post</a> by <a href="http://florestourism.com/">Flores tourism</a>. This post was inspired by the <a href="http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-8980-9780824838003.aspx">original accounts</a> of British anthropologist <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/people/catherine-allerton">Catherine Allerton</a>, who actually lived there for years long before the village became known to the outside world.</p>
<p><em>Presentation slides of the post are <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t8FVAt4Xbl0Vk0Ov32qFiWRLJMrOhm1A2m4WP71bUa0/edit?usp=sharing">available here</a>.</em></p>
Sun, 10 Dec 2017 18:37:00 +0000https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/10/wae-rebo-spiritual-landscapes.html
https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/12/10/wae-rebo-spiritual-landscapes.htmltravelSpatial Heat Map Plotting Using R<p>This tutorial explores the use of two R packages: <a title="ggplot2" href="http://ggplot2.org" target="_blank">ggplot2</a> and <a title="ggmap" href="https://sites.google.com/site/davidkahle/ggmap" target="_blank">ggmap</a>, for visualizing the distribution of <strong>spatiotemporal events</strong>. To this end, we make use of spatial <a title="Heat map" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_map" target="_blank">heat maps</a>, i.e., a heat map that is overlaid on a geographical map where the events actually took place. The data used in this tutorial are the drone strike incidents (i.e., the “events”) in <a title="Northwest Pakistan" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_North-West_Pakistan" target="_blank">Northwest Pakistan</a> conducted by the U.S. intelligence as part of its extensive and prolonged <a title="War on Terror" href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/62266/lee-kuan-yew/the-united-states-iraq-and-the-war-on-terror" target="_blank">War on Terror</a>. Data were collected by the <a title="Drone data" href="http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/05/23/get-the-data-what-the-drones-strike/" target="_blank">Bureau of Investigative Journalism</a> from 2004 to 2013. Source code of the tutorial is available <a href="https://github.com/vietexob/mobile-intelligence/blob/master/code/spatial/drone_strikes.R">on GitHub</a> as well as <a href="https://github.com/vietexob/mobile-intelligence/tree/master/data/drone">the dataset</a>.</p>
<p>We first need to load the necessary R libraries that we are going to use and the data file. We also want to subset the events that happened in 2008 or later (since there are more data points then).</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ggplot2</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ggmap</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">RColorBrewer</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="c1"># for color selection</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Read the input spatiotemporal data</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.data</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">read.csv</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">file</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"./data/drone/drone_strikes.csv"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Break down by year</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">vector</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="k">for</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="k">in</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">1</span><span class="o">:</span><span class="n">nrow</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">drone.data</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">{</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">dateStr</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">toString</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Date</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="p">])</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">dateStrSplit</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">strsplit</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">dateStr</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"/"</span><span class="p">)[[</span><span class="m">1</span><span class="p">]]</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">i</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">as.numeric</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">dateStrSplit</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="m">3</span><span class="p">])</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">}</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Create a year attribute</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">year</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Subset the data by year</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">subset</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">drone.data</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">year</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&gt;=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">2008</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Convert year to factor</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">as.factor</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>We then draw a rectangular map (retrieved from Google Maps via the function <code>get_map</code>) centered at the mean longitude and latitude coordinates of all the events. Because the retrieved map is a raster object, we have to convert it into a <code>ggplot</code> object in order for it to be plottable.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Specify a map with center at the center of all the coordinates</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">mean.longitude</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">mean</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Longitude</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">mean.latitude</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">mean</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Latitude</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">get_map</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">location</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">c</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mean.longitude</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">mean.latitude</span><span class="p">),</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">zoom</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">9</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">scale</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">2</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Convert into ggmap object</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">ggmap</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">extent</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"device"</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">legend</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"none"</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>We now visualize the density of the events over a 2D space by adding polygonal density layers over the map (using the <code>stat_density2d</code> function). The density is described by the longitude and latitude coordinates of the events themselves. The density layers are “filled”, i.e., shaded, according to their density level (which is automatically calculated using the <code>..level..</code> parameter). To add more aesthetic, the transparency level (given by the parameter <code>alpha</code>) of each layer is also automatically tuned according to the calculated density level. We finally color the density layers (or contours) using a defined spectrum of colors smoothed out by gradient (supported by the <code class="highlighter-rouge">RColorBrewer</code> package).</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Plot a heat map layer: Polygons with fill colors based on</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## relative frequency of events</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">stat_density2d</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">aes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Longitude</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">y</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Latitude</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">fill</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">..level..</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">alpha</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">..level..</span><span class="p">),</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">geom</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"polygon"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Define the spectral colors to fill the density contours</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">scale_fill_gradientn</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">colours</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">rev</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">brewer.pal</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="m">7</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"Spectral"</span><span class="p">)))</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>We next illustrate the strike locations using the <code class="highlighter-rouge">geom_point</code> function of the <code>ggplot2</code> package. We depict those as red circles (<code>shape=21</code>, see more shapes <a title="Shapes" href="http://sape.inf.usi.ch/quick-reference/ggplot2/shape" target="_blank">here</a>) and give them some level of transparency (<code>alpha=0.8</code>). We then disable distracting legends and give our map a title.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Add the strike points, color them red and define round shape</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">geom_point</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">subset.drone.data</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">aes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Longitude</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">y</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Latitude</span><span class="p">),</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">fill</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"red"</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">shape</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="m">21</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">alpha</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="m">0.8</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Remove any legends</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">guides</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">size</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="kc">FALSE</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">alpha</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kc">FALSE</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Give the map a title</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">ggtitle</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"US Drone Strikes in Pakistan from 2008 to 2013"</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>Finally, we split the events up yearly using the <code>facet_wrap</code> function to produce multiple “subplots” or <em>facets</em>, where each is a yearly data, and plot the distribution of events over the years.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Plot strikes by each year</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">facet_wrap</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="o">~</span><span class="n">year</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">drone.map</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="c1"># this is necessary to display the plot</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>This is what the resulted heat maps look like. We observe that year 2010 seems to have more densely located (and probably more intense) strikes than the rest. Check the reality <a title="Reality check" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_strikes_in_Pakistan#Statistics" target="_blank">here</a> for yourself!</p>
<p><img src="/images/blog/heatmap/drone_strikes.jpg" alt="drone_strikes" /></p>
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 22:20:20 +0000https://trucvietle.me/r/tutorial/2017/01/18/spatial-heat-map-plotting-using-r.html
https://trucvietle.me/r/tutorial/2017/01/18/spatial-heat-map-plotting-using-r.htmlrtutorialAll You Need Is Ecuador<p>There is hardly any other countries on Earth that is both as compact and diverse as Ecuador. Located in the northwest corner of the South American continent, Ecuador is cut through by the equator (with about 2/3 of the country in the southern hemisphere, and 1/3 in the north), and hence its name, which literally means “the equator” in Spanish. Being the fourth smallest country in South America, Ecuador, however, boasts a <strong>great deal of biodiversity</strong>: from the Amazon rainforest in the east to the soaring Andes in the center, the Pacific coast in the west, as well as the Galapagos Islands far in the Pacific ocean (yes, the pristine wildlife paradise that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is under the Ecuadorian sovereignty). Ecuador seems to <strong>have it all</strong>.</p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JCtl3qCdBiM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p>Not only is it diverse, Ecuador is also one of the <strong>most liberal</strong> countries in the world in terms of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Ecuador" target="_blank">immigration policy</a>. It is remarkably often the final destination for world-renowned fugitives running away from Western powers. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" target="_blank">Julian Assange</a> has been seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/02/ecuadors-strange-journey-from-embracing-snowden-to-turning-him-away/" target="_blank">Edward Snowden</a> was originally on his way to Quito from Hong Kong before getting stuck in Moscow. These facts were more than enough to convince me to make a trip to this South American country. An additional interesting fact about Ecuador is that its official currency has been the USD since 2000. Hence, there would be few visa or forex hassles for most travelers going there.</p>
<p>This post summarizes some of the highlights of my Ecuadorian trip in May 2015. Itinerary and tips presented here can be easily generalized to any travelers to this fascinating country on a budget.</p>
<h3 id="quito">Quito</h3>
<p>Elevated at 2,850m above sea level, the Ecuadorian capital is the word’s second highest – after Bolivia’s La Paz. At this height, Quito feels alpine cool all year round even though it is <em>just at</em> the equator. As a matter of fact, this “tropical” city can feel surprisingly chilly when the night falls or when it rains (which happens quite often during the spring–summer months in the northern hemisphere). My first immediate impression of this city is that it boasts an magnificent array of colonial heritage: monuments, plazas, churches, and colorful hilly residences dating back to the 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors founded <em>San Francisco de Quito</em>.</p>
<p>Quito’s colonial heritage is mostly well preserved, functional and utilized as they have always been where folks are still living in centuries-old little pretty houses with elaborate ironwork on balconies and window frames typical of the Andalusian region. A lot of them are found along the winding cobbled streets in <strong>Centro Historico</strong> – the city’s historic center. Strolling around and exploring the gems of Centro Historico sits atop my itinerary the first day or two. Unsurprisingly, Quito’s historic center is listed as one of <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/2" target="_blank">UNESCO’s world heritage</a> for obvious reasons. Walking along the cobbled streets of Centro Historico offers a meditative experience that feels both timeless and serendipitous.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2rwNWUy5HQ/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Walking the cobbled streets of Quito&#39;s historic center #quito #ecuador #historico #cobblestone #colonial</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-15T01:10:54+00:00">May 14, 2015 at 6:10pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Of the many plazas in Centro Historico, one that you cannot miss is the beautiful <strong>Plaza Grande</strong> that is surrounded by government buildings, museums, and luxurious hotels and bustling crowds of tourists, citizens and street vendors. This is arguably the most lively part of town during the day.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2ryANEy5Kj/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The best preserved colonial historic quarter in South America #quito #ecuador #historico #colonial #timeless #plaza</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-15T01:26:35+00:00">May 14, 2015 at 6:26pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>At the heart of the historic center is the <strong>Plaza de San Francisco</strong>, <em>the</em> plaza that you must <em>not</em> miss. This place is huge and truly impressive, whose one large side is flanked by the magnificent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_and_Convent_of_St._Francis" target="_blank">Church and Convent of St. Francis</a>. While the convent now has turned into an art museum, fine restaurant, and gift shop complex, the cathedral is still in use. The art museum houses an less-than-impressive collection of paintings and sculptures made during the colonial period, all of which are Christian-themed. Remarkably, the cathedral features an impressive and elaborate golden Baroque altar.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2r0IC8S5OB/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Impressive historical square in the heart of colonial Quito #quito #ecuador #centrohistorico #plaza #colonial #fisheye</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-15T01:45:08+00:00">May 14, 2015 at 6:45pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>The huge public space in the center of the plaza is mostly frequented by tourists for priceless photographic opportunities and street-food vendors. Interestingly, many of those street vendors are <a href="http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/text?people=Quichua" target="_blank">Kichwa women</a> often seen strutting in their <a href="http://www.inmagine.com/imagebrokerrm-706/ptg03674985-photo" target="_blank">traditional costume</a> composing of high heels, long tights and skirt, a colorful poncho to cover, and topped with a bowler hat (which I found particularly interesting to observe). Flocks of pigeons often come to the square late in the afternoon, where the indigenous folks would feed them. All of which creates a dramatic and lively scene at the wide open space.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2r5w8rS5G6/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Indigenous woman walks away from the imminent rain #quito #ecuador #centrohistorico #plaza #native #indigenous #cobblestone</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-15T02:34:24+00:00">May 14, 2015 at 7:34pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>On the second day of my stay in the capital, I made a visit to the towering <strong>Basilica del Voto Nacional</strong>, the cathedral that dominates Quito’s skyline. Apart from its being so tall and huge, and located on the top of a hill, the cathedral sports distinctive Gothic revival architecture, which signals that it’s relatively new (as compared to the colonial ones). Tourists can buy a ticket (for around 3 bucks) to climb up to the (almost) very top of the cathedral’s tower (through a wiggling and rusted, creaky iron ladder) to get a commanding view over the entire city’s skyline and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Panecillo" target="_blank">Virgin of Quito</a> statue on the other hilltop.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2uSfbKS5Hm/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The Gothic cathedral that overshadows Quito&#39;s skyline #quito #ecuador #basilica #cathedral #gothic #church #architecture</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-16T00:48:57+00:00">May 15, 2015 at 5:48pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h2 id="the-andes">The Andes</h2>
<p>Quito was exciting for the first few days, but it quickly ran out of attractions because all it had were the historic center and those hilltop observatories surrounding it. To get to the real thrill, I had to venture out of the city to get to more authentic Andean towns and villages, where the local Quechuas would go about their daily lives as they have for centuries. The journey first look me to <strong>Latacunga</strong>, a sleepy Andean town located just two-hour bus drive south of Quito. Many travelers use Latacunga as a brief stopover to the mighty <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotopaxi" target="_blank">Cotopaxi</a> just 25km away or as the gateway to the <a href="http://backpackerreport.com/2013/04/18/quilotoa-loop/" target="_blank">Quilotoa loop</a> – for me, it was the latter case. Wandering around the cobbled streets of the historic downtown was interesting and provided lots of photographic opportunities and architectural viewing pleasures. The town, however, was pretty dead after 8pm, and the only visible hostel in town (that I stayed in) seemed to be the <a href="http://www.hostaltiana.com/" target="_blank">Hostal Tiana</a>, where delicious continental breakfast with fresh pineapple juice was provided each morning.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2wuQkDS5Ew/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">A brief sojourn in the sleepy Andean town of Latacunga, seat of the Cotopaxi province, whose namesake derived from the active volcano that four times destroyed the town #latacunga #ecuador #cotopaxi #andean #colonial #historico</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-16T23:30:04+00:00">May 16, 2015 at 4:30pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p><strong>Quilotoa loop</strong> is a string of remote Andean villages dotted around the famed <strong>Laguna de Quilotoa</strong> (or <em>Lake of Quilotoa</em>) – a gorgeous crater lake at the center of all the purposes of visiting the loop. The villages can be visited on foot on a multi-day hiking trail or more conveniently by bus for a few bucks, which I opted for. My first stop along the loop was the Sunday morning indigenous market in <a href="http://www.ecuador.com/sierra/pujili/" target="_blank">Pujili</a>, where you can purchase anything from plantains, ponchos to live sheep or llamas to take home. Indigenous markets provide an authentic lens into the daily lives of the Kichwa people – natives of the Ecuadorian Andes. I was particularly fascinated by their colorful costume and sampling the local food.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2zrvelS5Ds/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Indigenous market on Sunday draws buyers and sellers from wide and far to trade foodstuff, produce and clothing for the whole week&#39;s supply. Kichwa women seen spotting the most colorful and elaborate outfit for the week&#39;s social event #market #indigenous #native #quechua #kichwa #poncho</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-18T03:05:48+00:00">May 17, 2015 at 8:05pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>The highlight of the loop is of course the crater lake itself. At an elevation of almost 4,000m on its highest rim, the <strong>Lake of Quilotoa</strong> is perhaps one of the highest crater lakes in the world. Hiking along its rim was an incredible experience because the view down the bottom was simply breathtaking, and on a clear day, you could see the snowcapped Cotopaxi from afar. Hiking down to the bottom is quite a different experience, where a well-paved trail has been developed, and along the way you’d encounter all sorts of people – locals and visitors – stopping to take pictures, and also animals – dogs, donkeys, and horses – mostly used as means of transportation together with their copious amounts of ‘heavenly’ smelling dung. Watch out for shit down there!</p>
<p>The reward for the hike down was the closeup look at the beautiful crater lake, whose water is gorgeously emerald and volcanic gases can be seen bubbling up from the active volcano. The walk up was a <em>hell of a hike</em> because the thin air at such an elevation would make you feel so breathless. My Korean companion had a particularly tough time, and it took us 4X the effort to come up. Bringing sufficient water and energy-rich snacks is thus essential for a pleasant round-trip hike. The <em>real</em> reward, however, comes once you reach the rim on the way up and realize it’s the finish line of the excruciating hike. The lake would look ever more beautiful then, especially when the cool alpine breeze blows at your sweaty face to cool you down.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2zufH9y5Hp/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Laguna de Quilotoa on a foggy &amp; rainy day #ecuador #quilotoa #laguna #crater #emerald #lake #volcano #fisheye</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-18T03:29:46+00:00">May 17, 2015 at 8:29pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/22LmD-y5In/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Compulsive selfie with the emerald lake #ecuador #laguna #quilotoa #craterlake #emerald #selfie</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-19T02:22:37+00:00">May 18, 2015 at 7:22pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h2 id="the-pacific-coast">The Pacific Coast</h2>
<p>The Pacific coast towards the west of the country boasts a great deal of attractions, most importantly the weather is tropically warm and the beaches are gorgeous – a stark contrast to the alpine central region. An important city on the Pacific coast is <strong>Guayaquil</strong>. In fact, it is the country’s principal port and the largest and most populous metropolis. Just two hours drive north of Guayaquil lies a charming fishing-village-turned-surfing-heaven called <strong>Montañita</strong>. Watching <a href="https://youtu.be/uyqqLYJy-Z4" target="_blank">this documentary</a> was enough to convince me that it was going to be my next destination on the Ecuadorian coast after much hiking on the Andes. It was time to relax on a sunny tropical beach and enjoy some fresh seafood.</p>
<p><strong>Montañita</strong> is much more than your typical beach town. It has some of the best waves in Latin America – and surfers flock here from wide and far to ride them. Not only surfers, but also hippies or any kind of free spirited people would call this place home (or at least an extended stopover on their journey). My first impressions of this town were that there were a ton of hostels everywhere, people hanging out shirtless in the tropical heat and humidity, surf shops, bars, and tattoo parlors at every street corner, the night was always too young and everybody was always in a party mood. Remarkably, even though the town seems to survive entirely on tourism, the majority of the tourist facilities here are small businesses and family-run, where the locals are super chilled and friendly. All of which gives it ever warm and authentic feelings. Montañita is also surprisingly much more liberal than the rest of the country, where marijuana is openly traded on the streets and an LGBT beach bar is found amidst all the surf shops.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2_dd9Ly5I2/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Montanita, once a sleepy coastal town in Ecuador now has transformed into a hippie haven and a premier surfing destination in South America #ecuador #montanita #beach #surf #hippie #mosquitocoast</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-22T16:51:57+00:00">May 22, 2015 at 9:51am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Being in a surfing paradise, what else could I do more but surf? Well, the first thing I needed to do was to learn how to surf. My hostel owner recommended the local shop run by her friend called <a href="http://www.montanita.com/surf/locales-pro/498" target="_blank">Locales Pro</a>. For 20 bucks per 2 hours of lesson on excellent waves, I was able to do some basic stuff after the first session and get a certificate after the second one. Surfing is fun, but it’s very taxing on your back and shoulders – no wonder why all those surfers are so fit. You think it’s just jumping and standing on the board, but it requires a lot of muscular coordination. Half an hour surfing is like an hour in the gym.</p>
<p>The beach of Montañita is great for many things and not just surfing. Swimming is not recommend though because of the strong rip currents that could take swimmers far offshore – and I’ve been warned about that. One of my favorite things of taking a beach holiday is to watch sunset (or sunrise) on the beach, when the colors of the day become the most spectacular. Sunset in Montañita is no exception, dramatic as always, even more so with surfers in the backdrop.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/24iXkgS5Pz/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Life&#39;s a beach #ecuador #montanita #beach #sunset #surf #lifesabeach</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-20T00:20:05+00:00">May 19, 2015 at 5:20pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2882M5S5ON/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Sun, sand, sea and surf #ecuador #montanita #sun #beach #surf #lifesabeach</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-21T17:28:25+00:00">May 21, 2015 at 10:28am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>There is no short of accommodation in Montañita, but if you seek a more serene place away from all the rowdy party scenes in town, <a href="http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/El-Cielo/Montanita/92756" target="_blank">El Cielo hostel</a> is one such place (also where I stayed at). The hostel is run by a Polish-Brazilian couple who decided to call this town home. (Like most expats here, running a hostel seemed like a lucrative business.) It is pretty small, simple and homey styled (since the couple actually lived in there), supported by bamboo structure and surrounded by a lush garden (from where you’d get fresh papayas for breakfast in the morning). The only problem with this place (actually its <em>major</em> problem) is that it is infested with mosquitoes when the night falls. I still had crazily itchy mosquito bites one week after leaving the hostel. Staying there, and the lush tropical settings, reminded me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito_Coast" target="_blank">The Mosquito Coast</a> – one of my favorite movies since I watched it as a teenager.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/29ymAIS5PG/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">The mosquito-infested hostel where I&#39;m staying at reminds me a lot of The Mosquito Coast #ecuador #montanita #hostel #mosquito #mosquitocoast #utopia #theroux</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-22T01:18:04+00:00">May 21, 2015 at 6:18pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<h2 id="the-food">The Food</h2>
<p>Ecuadorian food is as diverse as the country is. The main ingredients typically depend on what region: in the mountainous region, there are more red meat, plantains (they have lots of those there), lentils, corns, and soupy stuff; while on the coast, you’d have fresh seafood, delicious tropical fruits, and <em>ceviche</em>. One thing for sure is that they have some of the best soups (<em>sopas</em>) I’ve ever had. One of the must-try dishes in Ecuador is <strong>ceviche</strong> – or raw seafood ‘cooked’ by being cured in citrus juices. Typically, fish ceviche is <em>raw</em> while shrimp and squid are cooked. Therefore, taking extra caution is a must when consuming fish ceviche to make sure that it is fresh, free of parasites, and properly prepared from a experienced chef. You certainly don’t want to have gastrointestinal mishaps while traveling in South America.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2zqZj6S5Bn/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Ecuadorian food galore. Best sopas ever! #ecuador #foodporn #sopas</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-18T02:54:04+00:00">May 17, 2015 at 7:54pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/2_cb5ky5Gn/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Yummy Ecuadorian seafood, including ceviche or raw fish &#34;cooked&#34; by being cured in lime juice #ecuador #seafood #foodporn #yummy #ceviche</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Joele (@vietexob) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-05-22T16:42:56+00:00">May 22, 2015 at 9:42am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote>
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<p>Last but not least, the <strong>Amazon rainforest</strong> and the <strong>Galapagos Islands</strong> were left out of the itinerary due to lack of time and <em>cash</em> (much for the latter). Any visitors to this amazing country should really consider those if budget allows. From my research and conversations with other backpackers, <strong>Baños</strong> is a popular gateway to the Amazon. Visiting the Amazon rainforest is always an item in my long bucket list waiting to be crossed out someday.</p>
<p><em>Presentation slides of the post are <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sWn6kv1rjYhzmCc1CcrHP-6EU9eBJ7w9HFcddEqIFgA/edit?usp=sharing">available here</a>.</em></p>
Sun, 08 Jan 2017 21:01:20 +0000https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/01/08/all-you-need-is-ecuador.html
https://trucvietle.me/travel/2017/01/08/all-you-need-is-ecuador.htmltravelCartogram Plotting Using R<p>A <a title="Cartogram" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartogram" target="_blank">cartogram</a> is a <strong>thematic map</strong> where a certain <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_map">mapping variable</a> (e.g., population or economic indicator) of a geographic region is substituted for its physical (land) area. The spatial geometry of the map is then proportionately <em>distorted</em> in order to reflect the information conveyed by the thematic variable. Cartograms are thus visually intuitive and <em>revealing</em> to the presentation of such information.</p>
<p>There exist a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartogram#Algorithms">few algorithms</a> to compute cartograms given the land densities and thematic variables. One of them is the <strong>diffusion-based method</strong> proposed by <a title="Gatsner and Newman" href="http://www.pnas.org/content/101/20/7499.abstract" target="_blank">Gatsner and Newman</a>, in which the authors also provide a neat <a title="C program" href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/cart/" target="_blank">C program</a> to compute the point-wise cartogram transformations. Check out some of the very <a title="Cartograms" href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/cartograms/" target="_blank">revealing maps</a> extracted from their book <em><a title="Atlas Book" href="http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Real-World-Daniel-Dorling/dp/0500514259" target="_blank">Atlas of the Real World</a></em>.</p>
<p>This post demonstrates how to compute and plot cartograms using <a title="R" href="http://www.r-project.org/">R</a> and given input <a title="Shapefile" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile" target="_blank">shapefiles</a> by interfacing with the above-mentioned C program via two packages: <a title="Rcartogram" href="https://github.com/omegahat/Rcartogram" target="_blank">Rcartogram</a> and <a title="getcartr" href="https://github.com/chrisbrunsdon/getcartr" target="_blank">getcartr</a>. I was first motivated by <a title="R Activity" href="http://spatial.ly/2013/06/r_activity/" target="_blank">this post</a>, in which the author did not find an easy way to make cartograms using R and resorted to using the off-the-shelf tool <a title="ScapeToad" href="http://scapetoad.choros.ch/" target="_blank">ScapeToad</a>. In this blog post, I will show how to plot the cartogram of the <strong>world’s population by country</strong> in 2013, whose data can be <a title="Population" href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL" target="_blank">downloaded here</a>.</p>
<p>All the source code in this tutorial can be downloaded from this <a href="https://github.com/vietexob/geospatial-r/tree/master/code/cartograms">GitHub repo</a>.</p>
<h3 id="preparations">Preparations</h3>
<p>First, make sure you have the two packages <a title="FFTW" href="http://www.fftw.org" target="_blank">FFTW3</a> and <a title="fftw" href="http://cran.r-project.org/package=fftw" target="_blank">“fftw” for R</a>, which perform <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Fourier_transform">fast Fourier transform</a>, properly installed. For Linux and macOS, do the following (courtesy of <a href="http://mazamascience.com/WorkingWithData/?p=1439">this article</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li>Download the <a href="http://www.fftw.org/download.html">latest FFTW</a> package.</li>
<li>Extract to a directory and <code class="highlighter-rouge">cd</code> there.</li>
<li>On the Terminal, type: <code class="highlighter-rouge">./configure --enable-shared</code></li>
<li>Then compile the package: <code class="highlighter-rouge">make</code>, and install it: <code class="highlighter-rouge">sudo make install</code></li>
</ul>
<p>If nothing goes wrong, the library should be correctly installed. Now, download <a title="fftw" href="http://cran.r-project.org/package=fftw" target="_blank">fftw</a> to some directory. In that directory, type: <code class="highlighter-rouge">sudo R CMD INSTALL fftw_1.0-3.tar.gz</code>, where <code class="highlighter-rouge">fftw_1.0-3.tar.gz</code> is the name of the downloaded file. This would compile and install the R package.</p>
<p>The next steps are to be performed <em>in an R environment</em> (e.g., <a href="https://www.rstudio.com/">RStudio</a>). We are now going to install two R packages from GitHub: <a title="Rcartogram" href="https://github.com/omegahat/Rcartogram" target="_blank">Rcartogram</a> and <a title="getcartr" href="https://github.com/chrisbrunsdon/getcartr" target="_blank">getcartr</a>. (Thus, make sure you have <a href="https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/devtools/index.html">devtools</a> package installed.) The former bundles the compiled C binaries with some neat R functions to interface with them. Whereas, the latter provides a means to interface with <code class="highlighter-rouge">Rcartogram</code> and the C library through which the input shapefile and its carto-transformed polygons can be effectively plotted.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">devtools</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">install_github</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'omegahat/Rcartogram'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Wait for installation, then:</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">install_github</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'chrisbrunsdon/getcartr'</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">subdir</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">'getcartr'</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>Finally, make sure you have <a title="ggplot2" href="http://ggplot2.org/" target="_blank">ggplot2</a>, <a title="maptools" href="http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/maptools/index.html" target="_blank">maptools</a>, and <a title="rgeos" href="http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rgeos/index.html" target="_blank">rgeos</a> properly installed in R for geospatial visualization and data manipulations. (The last two are required for <code class="highlighter-rouge">getcartr</code>, anyways.)</p>
<h3 id="loading-packages-and-data">Loading packages and data</h3>
<p>First, load all the necessary packages at the beginning of your script:</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Rcartogram</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">getcartr</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">library</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ggplot2</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>Then, read the shapefile that contains the map that you wish to plot. In this case, it is the world map with country borders. The corresponding shapefile can be downloaded <a title="World Map" href="http://thematicmapping.org/downloads/world_borders.php" target="_blank">from here</a>.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="n">world</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">readShapePoly</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'TM_WORLD_BORDERS-0.3.shp'</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>Next, read the data frame that contains the thematic variable of interest. In this example, it is the world’s population by country in 2013. This means the shape and size of each country (and respective boundaries) will be transformed and distorted proportionally to its population (and land area).</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## We are using the world's population data from World Bank</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">world.pop</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">read.csv</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">file</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s1">'sp.pop.totl_Indicator_en_csv_v2.csv'</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">stringsAsFactors</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kc">FALSE</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Create a smaller dataset by retaining the world's population in 2013 and the ISO3</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## country code, which will be used for matching and merging with the input shapefile</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">smaller.data</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">data.frame</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Country.Code</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">world.pop</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Country.Code</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">Population</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">world.pop</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">X</span><span class="m">2013</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">smaller.data</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">na.omit</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">smaller.data</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<h3 id="combining-data-and-plotting-the-cartogram">Combining data and plotting the cartogram</h3>
<p>In this last step, we will first join the two datasets <code class="highlighter-rouge">world</code> and <code class="highlighter-rouge">smaller.data</code> by their common field: <code class="highlighter-rouge">ISO3</code> and <code class="highlighter-rouge">Country.Code</code>, respectively. We then compute the cartogram transformations of all the density points that make up the areas of all the countries according to their populations using the <code class="highlighter-rouge">quick.carto</code> function. (<a title="ISO3" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166-1_alpha-3" target="_blank">ISO3 code</a> is a 3-letter representation of all the countries in the world.)</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Join the two datasets using their common field</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">matched.indices</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">match</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world</span><span class="o">@</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">[,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"ISO3"</span><span class="p">],</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">smaller.data</span><span class="p">[,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"Country.Code"</span><span class="p">])</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">world</span><span class="o">@</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">data.frame</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world</span><span class="o">@</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">smaller.data</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">matched.indices</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">])</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Compute the cartogram transformation of each country using its population</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## with the degree of Gaussian blur = 0.5 (otherwise, it may not work)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">world.carto</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">quick.carto</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">world</span><span class="o">@</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Population</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">blur</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="m">0.5</span><span class="p">)</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>In order to plot the resulted cartogram, we need to convert <code class="highlighter-rouge">world.carto</code> into a plottable data frame. The data frame will then be merged with the input shapefile using their shared field <code>Country.Code</code>.</p>
<figure class="highlight"><pre><code class="language-r" data-lang="r"><span class="c1">## Convert the object into data frame</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">world.f</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">fortify</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world.carto</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">region</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"Country.Code"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Merge the cartogram transformation with the world map shapefile</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">world.f</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">merge</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world.f</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">world</span><span class="o">@</span><span class="n">data</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">by.x</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"id"</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">by.y</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="s2">"Country.Code"</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Make a plot of the transformed polygons, where each country is</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## further shaded by their population size (lighter means bigger)</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="n">my_map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">ggplot</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">world.f</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">aes</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">long</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">lat</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">group</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">group</span><span class="p">,</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">fill</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">=</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">world.f</span><span class="o">$</span><span class="n">Population</span><span class="p">))</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">geom_polygon</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="c1">## Display the plot and give it a title</span><span class="w">
</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">my_map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">&lt;-</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">my_map</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="o">+</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="n">ggtitle</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"Cartogram of the World Population (2013)"</span><span class="p">))</span></code></pre></figure>
<p>Finally, this is the cartogram we wish to see:
<img src="/images/blog/cartogram/world_pop_cartogram.png" alt="world_pop_cartogram" /></p>
<p>Compare this with the <a href="http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2013/2013-world-population-data-sheet/world-map.aspx#map/world/population/2013">conventional thematic map</a> and see the difference in how much more visual information a cartogram can convey!</p>
<p>Here are other two <strong>revealing</strong> cartograms: world countries by GDP per capita (2013) and the <a href="http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview">Corruption Perception Index</a> (2014), respectively.</p>
<p><img src="/images/blog/cartogram/world_gdp_capita_cartogram.png" alt="world_gdp_capita_cartogram" /></p>
<p><img src="/images/blog/cartogram/cpi_2014_cartogram.png" alt="cpi_2014_cartogram" /></p>
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:23:16 +0000https://trucvietle.me/r/tutorial/2016/12/18/cartogram-plotting-using-r.html
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